Goodbye Microsoft, Hello World The cowboy’s job is done here, and it’s time for him to move on to the next adventrue. The lonely prairie wanderer moves onward, always moving forward. Never looks back, never catches one last fleeting glance. This adventure is over. and it’s time for something new. The wanderer wanders on into the sunset. Goodbye Microsoft. Helloe new adventure. Goodbye Microsoft I joined Microsoft as a contractor in 2007. I worked as an operations engineer on the

I was a big fan of the original Iron Chef tv show, as in the original show from Japan. And my favorite Iron Chef was Iron Chef Japanese Rokusaburo Michiba. If you don’t know the show, it probably seems redundant to refer to a Japanese chef on a Japanese tv show as Iron Chef Japanese, but it isn’t. There were 3 1/2 Iron Chefs originally (Iron Chef Italian rarely appeared unless he had an actual challenger to face). Each chef

The Best Part of My New Job If you had told me a year ago that I would be a Program Manager today, I would have told you that you’re dillusional. Obviously when the program is something you’re really passionate about, it makes a tremendous difference. My career as a DBA has always been about action and not about talking. I’m a “doer,” not a “talker.” I used to view meetings as blockades to getting things done. Now I rely

Goodbye Joseph Sack Last month, Joseph Sack (blog|@josephsack) resigned as Program Manager for the SQL Server Certified Master program to pursue other passions. Joe leaves behind you a tremendous legacy. It was no small feat to globalize the SQL Server Master Certification program. I was honored to have been allowed to assist in those efforts and was in awe of Joe’s ability to manage that massive effort so well. I look forward to seeing this journey he put the program

Idera ACE Program Members Announced Idera announced the lineup for their new ACE (Advisors & Community Educators) Program today, and I’m excited to be on of the Idera ACEs. The new Idera ACEs are established members of the SQL community who are already educators and advisors through various programs. Idera is enabling the ACEs to take an even bigger role in the SQL community and fostering our participation in even more SQL events. Below is a brief excerpt of what

Eleven Years Ago I was reading a blog post by Thomas LaRock (blog|@SQLRockstar) called Ten Years. His life and career changed ten years ago this very month. While reading this post, I realized that I had a life defining event in my career eleven years ago … also this very month. I even remember the date that it happened. It was April 3, 2000. It was a Monday morning, and I was not prepared for what I was going to

2010 – A Year in the Life of an MCM 2010 was a big year for me professionally. Okay, so I wasn’t an MCM the whole year, but it was a part of my entire year. It was a big part of life for most of the preceeding year. The MCM was definitely the biggest event in my life this past year. I also worked to take a much bigger part in the SQL community. I didn’t have many goals

T-SQL Tuesday #13 – Business Is as Business Does This blog entry is participating in T-SQL Tuesday #13, hosted this month by Steve Jones (Blog|@way0utwest). You are invited to visit his blog to join the blog party. You are welcome to write your own participating blog post for the party or just to read more blogs participating in this month’s theme: What the Business Says Is Not What the Business Wants. For my part in this month’s T-SQL Tuesday, I

T-SQL Tuesday #012 – the DBA as a Modern-day Specialist This blog entry is participating in T-SQL Tuesday #012, hosted this month by Paul Randal (Blog|@PaulRandal). You are invited to visit his blog to join the blog party. You are welcome to write your own participating blog post for the party or just to read more blogs participating in this month’s theme: Why are DBA Skills Necessary? For my part in this month’s T-SQL Tuesday, I am going to delve

T-SQL Tuesday #009: Beach Time: My Work Away From Work This blog entry is participating in T-SQL Tuesday #009, hosted this month by Jason “@sqlrnnr” Brimhall (Blog|Twitter). You are invited to visit his blog to join the blog party. You are welcome to write your own participating blog post for the party or just to read more blogs participating in this month’s theme: Beach Time. This month’s theme is all about getting time away from the daily grind. How do